AnnArbor.com and the Hybrid Model

I think AnnArbor.com is a decent example of the hybrid model of news that we discussed in class. I like the simplicity of the layout of the website. The page can be intuitively navigated and the content is not so busy that it becomes distracting. I like the quick links at the top that highlight some of the biggest news of the day and serves as a front page of the paper would. There is also a link to the most popular news, so if you can see what others have been reading about, and think is important. Instead of someone deciding for you what is important news, you have the ability to go through the site and look at what you want. There’s no hierarchy of information as in the traditional paper, which selected news to put on the front page in the hopes of attracting readers.

It is interesting that the news is delivered chronologically on AnnArbor.com, and I think this is a good model because there are also links to the right of the page which allow the viewer to search for content based on the type of information they are looking for. The only downfall to this is that I have noticed that at times there is almost no visual art on the page, depending on what stories have been recently submitted, as some stories do not have pictures to go along with them. Even in traditional print, front page photography was often used to persuade readers into buying the publication. It might be a good thing for AnnArbor.com to post a photo album on the opening page, which could highlight the photographs of the day. Also, with the new hybrid model, print publications can move their content online and add something that was never available in print format; video. With the addition of video, online newspapers can compete with television news, in a way that was never possible before internet.

I like the advertising layout on the page. The ads are not loud and do not distract from the news content. There’s nothing flashing in your face or popping up while you’re trying to navigate the site. I also think it’s a very good idea to have the “Your Voice” section at the bottom of the page. This allows readers to contribute to the paper, similarly to letters to the editor in traditional print, except readers can interact much more quickly with the publication than they could with print. Because this section is set up like a forum, people can comment back and forth about each other’s statements, which opens up discussion about news content, like never before possible. By adding a “Your Voice” section to different stories, the publication encourages the public to participate, which I think is a very important and revolutionary concept. Here is an example: http://www.annarbor.com/news/opinion/yes-plastic-bags-are-a-bane-but-an-ann-arbor-only-ban-on-them-isnt-the-answer/index.php#comment-17082 . These types of forums are just one example of the benefits of moving print news to internet.